said Nigeria would continue the trial which she said had been effective in treating COVID-19 patients, especially those at the mild stage of infection.

“We are still working on drugs. Don’t forget that even the hydroxychloroquine is still being worked on as we speak. It’s important for us to make it clear that the WHO does not dictate to countries as to what to do.

“They only provide guidance and guidelines, not dictate, because the reality is that each country is expected to look at those realities on ground and leave room for innovation, flexibility and adaptation as dictated by the realities on ground in each country.

He said the Federal Government is working based on science, evidence and research in containing the spread of the virus.

“One of the researches that has come out of our own situation is establishing that what we have here is the same strain in Wuhan,” he said.

Mamora during the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 daily press briefing on Wednesday disclosed that Nigeria has a total of 112 treatment and isolation centres with 5,324 beds as part of the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“At present, we have a total of 112 treatment and isolation centres in all the 36 states and FCT with 5,324 beds.

“While only five states including the FCT have at least 300 beds as prescribed for isolation and treatment, 21 states have less than 100 bed spaces.

“As the number of confirmed cases increases, there is an urgent need to expand our treatment centres across the country,” the minister said.

He called on state governors and philanthropists to take active and deliberate steps to scale up the number of beds for isolation and treatment of confirmed cases in their states.

The minister said that this became necessary as the country prepared to move into the next phase of the response, including the easing of the lockdown.

He added that the ministry had conducted a high level technical session on strategic outputs of Mid-Action Review (MAR) and identified priority activities for the next phase of the response.

“In addition, we have commenced development of sector specific advisories on re-opening. Training of health workers on case management is ongoing in more states,” he added.

He announced that there were global efforts to find a cure for the disease and Nigeria was part of this effort.

“We have received a few proposals for local remedies for the disease and these have been forwarded to the relevant agencies for evaluation.

“For a preparation to be approved for use in Nigeria, it must be subjected to safety, toxicological and efficacy tests as well as clinical trials,” he said.

Mamora noted that government would support every genuine efforts aimed at finding a local solution to the pandemic.

Therefore, non pharmaceutical preventive approach is still our best strategy, the minister said.

In his address, the PTF National Coordinator, Dr. Sani Aliyu, said that states were responsible for case management in the fight against COVID-19 the country.

Aliyu said that the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) was also leading the efforts in designing and implementing national testing strategies to scale-up testing in Nigeria.

The coordinator said that Nigerians could contact the PTF via email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

source: DailyTimes